If you count today, there are eight more shopping days left until “Boxing Day.” If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of an audio learner, check out The Get More Smarter Podcast. And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.
As The Washington Post reports, the talks will likely continue into the weekend:
Congress appears likely to let funding for the federal government expire Friday at midnight, triggering the beginning of a shutdown, as lawmakers scramble to complete a $900 billion economic relief package, multiple aides and lawmakers involved in deliberations.
Senior Congressional officials are placing a high-stakes gamble that pressure from a looming government shutdown will force lawmakers to compromise on the sweeping economic relief legislation that has been delayed for months.
Lawmakers had hoped to introduce the relief legislation as early as Thursday but have been delayed by numerous contentious issues, particularly a push from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to curb the emergency lending authority of the Federal Reserve.
Aides close to the negotiations said a short-term bill to extend government funding was unlikely to be approved on Friday, meaning government appropriations would lapse Saturday morning. Budget experts said the impact of that lapse would almost certainly be minimal if Congress can approve the government funding deal by the end of the weekend. The nation would face a much more significant disruption if the federal shutdown continued on Monday, when shutdown orders would go into effect.
Great. A Holiday game of “chicken.” As The New York Times reports, the new wrinkle in discussions is about, you guessed it, power:
As they closed in on a $900 billion stimulus deal, top Democrats and Republicans in Congress hit a barrier on Friday over a last-minute Republican effort to cut off the Federal Reserve’s ability to restart pandemic relief programs and limit the central bank’s ability to fight future financial crises.
The proposal, fiercely opposed by Democrats who argue it would revoke a crucial tool to stabilize the sputtering economy, emerged as perhaps the thorniest point of contention among a handful of remaining issues holding up an agreement. It could take away some of the Fed’s power as a “lender of last resort,” and curtail President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s latitude in dealing with the continuing economic fallout from the pandemic.
Though a final deal won’t likely include $2,000 direct payments to Americans — which President Trumpreportedly lobbied for — it may still contain a smaller amount of money for eligible Americans.
► The Trump administration appears to be botching the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine, allowing millions of doses of the vaccine to sit in warehouses while First Son-in-law Jared Kushner tries to decipher his own spreadsheets. As The Washington Post reports today, not only is the federal government falling on its face on a delivery plan — we’re actually paying more money than Europe for a vaccine:
The European Union is paying less money than the United States for a range of coronavirus vaccines, including the Pfizer-BioNTech inoculation currently being rolled out across the country, according to a Washington Post comparison of the breakdowns.
The costs to the E.U. had been confidential until a Belgian official tweeted — and then deleted — a list late Thursday.
Comparing that list to calculations by Bernstein Research, an analysis and investment firm, it appears the 27-nation union has a 24 percent discount on the Pfizer vaccine compared to the United States, paying $14.76 per dose compared to $19.50 in the United States. Some of that difference may reflect that the E.U. subsidized that vaccine’s development.
How’s that “running government like a business” thing working for you? Maybe we should have agreed to allow President Trump to call this “The Trump Vaccine” after all.
Colorado has been informed that it will receive about 17 thousand fewer doses than anticipated.
► New polling from Navigator Research suggests that Americans have had enough of President Trump pretending he didn’t lose the 2020 election. From a press release:
More than three in five Americans (61%) now believe Trump should concede the election, including one in three Trump voters (34%). Moreover, by a nearly 20-point margin, a majority of Americans approve of the way President-elect Biden is handling the presidential transition (56%), mostly citing his focus on addressing the coronavirus pandemic and his selection of Cabinet appointments.
While Republicans disproportionately believe that the 2020 election was somehow illegitimate, the majority of Americans do not share this opinion.
► The Associated Press reports on a significant appointment expected from President-elect Joe Biden:
Biden plans to nominate New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary, according to a person familiar with the decision, a historic pick that would make her the first Native American to lead the powerful federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation’s tribes for generations.
Tribal leaders and activists around the country, along with many Democratic figures, have urged Biden for weeks to choose Haaland. They stood behind her candidacy even when concerns that Democrats might risk their majority in the House if Haaland yielded her seat in Congress appeared to threaten her nomination.
Haaland, 60, is a member of the Laguna Pueblo and, as she likes to say, a 35th-generation resident of New Mexico. The role as interior secretary would put her in charge of an agency that not only has tremendous sway over the nearly 600 federally recognized tribes but also over much of the nation’s vast public lands, waterways, wildlife, national parks and mineral wealth.
More political (and coronavirus) news is available right after the jump…
As Promised, More Words…
► As Ernest Luningwrites for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Greeley) might be the early favorite to potentially challenge incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet in 2022. We’ve said as much on The Big Line 2022, though it’s difficult to see how a Buck candidacy would end well for Republicans; Buck lost to Bennet in 2010 before Coloradans knew much about him and his right wing proclivities.
Whatever he does in 2022, Buck will have a bit more time on his hands by deciding not to run for re-election as State Republican Party Chairman.
► Democrats may have found a secret weapon in their quest to flip two Senate seats in Georgia. As POLITICO reports: It’s President Trump himself.
► As David Migoya writes for The Denver Post, Colorado’s Supreme Court approved some new changes regarding transparency:
The Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday voted to approve rules for how criminal trial judges can restrict public access to court records, a direct response to Denver Post stories that exposed how thousands of cases have been kept from public view with little to no oversight for how that was done.
The rules, proposed by a statewide committee of attorneys and judges who made recommendations after months of meeting behind closed doors, are to take effect sometime in 2021, according to Chief Justice Nathan Coats who disclosed the approval at a meeting of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee.
Coats said the change is intended to solve the problem of cases being sealed and then “disappearing into a dark hole.”
The rules are the result of a Denver Post investigation in 2018 that revealed thousands of criminal cases were suppressed from the public – some for decades and frequently without reason or cause. Many still are.
► Vice President Mike Pence received his COVID-19 vaccination today (as did his wife, Karen Pence). He was oddly thrilled with the prospect of being punctured by a needle:
Via The Associated Press
► South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburnspoke with Slate.com about some of the new members entering the House of Representatives:
One of my colleagues wrote that House Republicans are facing a “real depletion of those within the conference who have any idea what they’re doing.” Does this incoming class seem different to you?
I have not met them, so I don’t know. I would hate to categorize or even classify anybody that I have not interacted with, so I don’t know. I do know, oh, several of them, two of them were supposed to be what? What do you call that thing? G-ANON or whatever …
QAnon?
Yeah. If that’s indicative of the class, then we’re going to have some problems.
Clyburn’s probably not going to enjoy working with Lauren “Q*Bert” Boebert.
► As 9News reports, Denver Public Schools approved an interim superintendent as district leaders announced hopes at re-starting in-person learning in January.
► Colorado is among a large group of states filing an anti-trust lawsuit against Google, as Blair Millerreports for Denver7:
Colorado and a coalition of 38 attorneys general on Thursday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google – the third filed against the massive tech company over the past three months.
The latest lawsuit argues that Google has developed and maintained a monopoly over search engines and search engine advertising through exclusive contracts and other anticompetitive practices, which the attorneys general say harms both users whose data is being compiled and sold by Google, search engine competitors, and advertisers who do not have a competitive marketplace and thus pay higher prices that are often passed on to consumers.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Thursday it was extraordinary that President Donald Trump hasn’t said a single word about the cyberattack on U.S. agencies believed to be orchestrated by the Kremlin. Nor has Trump apparently complained to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a tweet posted on Thursday, Romney called White House inaction and silence inexcusable.
► The Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) released its quarterly economic forecast today. From a press release:
The forecast shows that despite improvement over the Fall, Colorado’s economic activity remains below pre-COVID levels. The outlook for the winter months has weakened as higher COVID caseloads have resulted in more public health restrictions on businesses, while winter weather limits outdoor dining. Though weekly initial unemployment claims remain far below the levels of March and April, they have more than tripled since September and are expected to remain elevated through the winter months. Despite this, the outlook for 2021 has improved due to high savings and wealth and the distribution of the vaccine.
► As The Huffington Post reports, a South Carolina Congressman is suddenly singing a different tune on COVID-19 precautions after testing positive for the virus.
► Check out the latest episode of The Get More Smarter Podcast, featuring an interview with House Speaker KC Becker as she breaks down last week’s special legislative session.
Don’t forget to give Colorado Pols a thumbs up on Facebook and Twitter.
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5 thoughts on “Get More Smarter on Friday (December 18)”
Reuters has a Friday news dump, including a DHS whistleblower alleging:
U.S. whistleblower was pressed to exaggerate leftist role in urban protests, lawyer says
A former acting chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's intelligence office has told Congress that DHS leaders pressed him to overstate illegal border crossings from Mexico and overplay the role of far left groups in violence during anti-government protests last summer, his lawyer said. In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, former intelligence chief Brian Murphy accused department leadership of urging him to "blame Far Left groups in an exaggerated fashion" for violence during summer protests in Portland, Oregon, according to lawyer Mark Zaid.
An earlier version of the Reuters article included Murphy’s allegation that DHS was explicitly ordered to downplay violence from white supremacist and far right groups, as well as Russian disinformation- because “ it made the President look bad.” The Times has that story.
Is it just me, or would this have been screaming- headline worthy, resignation-inducing heads-must-roll stuff in any other administration?
The next life? Once Kimberly’s done with her emasculation exercise and Letitia James is done with your financial colonoscopy your testosterone will be plenty low enough to qualify you as CEO of some random 2024 SCAMPAC.
December 18, 2020 10:36 AM UTC
5 Comments
If you count today, there are eight more shopping days left until “
Reuters has a Friday news dump, including a DHS whistleblower alleging:
An earlier version of the Reuters article included Murphy’s allegation that DHS was explicitly ordered to downplay violence from white supremacist and far right groups, as well as Russian disinformation- because “ it made the President look bad.” The Times has that story.
Is it just me, or would this have been screaming- headline worthy, resignation-inducing heads-must-roll stuff in any other administration?
IOKIYAR remember? But today's Get More Smarter has given me a new favorite epithet — calling someone a bucking trumphole.
And since when did the Onion stop writing satire and start just reporting the facts?
The next life? Once Kimberly’s done with her emasculation exercise and Letitia James is done with your financial colonoscopy your testosterone will be plenty low enough to qualify you as CEO of some random 2024 SCAMPAC.
This clown is a walking condom commercial.
Are y'all scurrying back to the Four Seasons parking lot for the press conference?
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